Rarest animal on Earth dies

Lonesome George has passed away

Sad news from the Galapagos Islands as Lonesome George, the
rarest animal in the world, has died.

Lonesome George was a very famous tortoise. He was a type of
Galapagos Island tortoise, giant tortoises weighing up to 100
kilograms. Believed to be 100 years old, he was the last living
member of the Pinta Island giant tortoises.

That makes his death particularly sad. Although scientists
tried to get Lonesome George to mate with other types of giant
tortoise, they were never successful.

Now that Lonesome George has died, the Pinta Island tortoises
are extinct.

Galapagos giant tortoises are only found on the islands that
make up the Galapagos, just off the coast of Ecuador, South
America. Each island has a different type - or
subspecies - of giant tortoise.

Differences between the subspecies of tortoises on each island
helped to inspire Charles
Darwin's theory of evolution.

The Galapagos giant tortoise's problems began when sailors and
settlers discovered the islands. The sailors hunted them for meat
and oil. The settlers introduced goats, which ate the tortoise's
food.

The population of tortoises shrunk from 250,000 to 3,000.
Luckily, conservationists declared the Galapagos Islands a
protected area and there are now 20,000 tortoises living in the
wild.

Sadly, the protection came too late for Lonesome George and the
Pinta Island tortoises.